October 26, 2018
Many hands make light work
On a travel day, you’re stuck between two dimensions. You’re still on holiday, still moving, still having new experiences. There is much less freedom, however, and many deadlines to meet. It is stressful. We put ourselves in the hands of others and trust that they will do the right things at the right times, and they must work hard on our behalf. In many ways it’s the opposite of what we seek as cycle tourists: going at our own pace, being self-reliant, being outdoors!
For the first leg of our return trip, I need to thank Seb, our Airbnb host, for providing ample space for us to keep our bikes and pack our gear. Second, Greg at Recyclo Bike Shop, for boxing the bikes with care and skill. Third, Alejandro at Recyclo for coming in early to release the boxes to us. Fourth, our taxi driver (I wish we got his name) for knowing exactly how to handle our cargo and for his friendliness. This all made the ensuing chaos much easier to deal with.
We waited almost an hour to check in. Then we had to take the bike boxes downstairs, get them x-rayed, and wait some more for the baggage handlers to appear. I’m not sure why all this was necessary, but despite the delay, it beats having your precious cargo manhandled by TSA in the U.S.
Then security. Then the walk to the gate. Then more waiting. The flight itself was fine. We get to Dublin, go through immigration, and somehow find ourselves at the baggage claim! We made a wrong turn somewhere. We freak out for a minute, then find someone to help us. No problem, they say, just go upstairs and go through security again! Arggghhh! Oh well, it was our fault.
To add insult to injury, it seems that European airports force you to run a duty-free gauntlet right past security. This is extremely annoying. Someone please remind me of this when I accuse the U.S. of being the land of crass commercialism. Anyway, Dublin has this U.S. preclearance process, which means we have to go through a third security check, plus immigration and customs. I am just thankful that we had enough time to make it to the gate in time for boarding.
The flight was delayed by 90 minutes. Again, once in the airplane, it’s all very smooth. We were chasing the sunset until close to landing. And miracle of miracles, I actually slept a bit!
This is where the preclearance pays off. We stepped right off the plane as though it were a domestic flight. We retrieved our duffel bag quickly, but there was confusion as to which of three different possible locations oversized baggage will be arriving. We bounced among them until we spotted our bike boxes.
They survived without much damage, thanks to careful baggage handlers in three different airports. I guess it was about 6am in Spain at this point, but I was awake enough to reassemble the bikes reasonably well. Contrasted with the sterile appearance of the airport, the bikes looked absolutely filthy! My steerer tube was somehow packed with dirt. Even after all that cleaning, the clay soil from our Guadalquivir misadventures still clung to our tires, spokes, racks, and God knows where else.
No matter. We had places to go. Up the elevator to start the needlessly long walk to the Link light rail station. To the end of the line at Husky Stadium. To the Burke-Gilman trail, to the street, to our doorstep. A journey we’ve made a thousand times before in various forms.
Home is very comfortable, but we are hungry and it is late. We briefly reject the bicycle life by driving to the pizza joint down the road for a slice and a beer. All is well and we fall into a deep sleep.
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Today's ride: 8 km (5 miles)
Total: 1,115 km (692 miles)
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